Getting Schooled On Sikhism

The study, titled “Turban Myths,” found that 70 percent of Americans misidentify turban-wearers, with 48 percent identifying men in turbans as Muslim despite the fact that most turbaned men in the U.S. are actually Sikh. More than one-third of Americans associate turban wearers with Osama bin Laden, more than with other named Muslim or Sikh alternatives and more than with no one in particular. And at least one in five people surveyed said that they would become angry or apprehensive if they encountered a stranger wearing a turban.

Although Sikhs have lived in the U.S. since the 19th century, the study also found that Americans still know relatively little about the community. According to the survey, 70 percent of Americans cannot identify a Sikh, and 79 percent cannot identify India as the religion’s country of origin. In fact, nearly half of Americans believe that Sikhism is actually a sect of Islam.